


Orange Flavoured Lollipop

by Vilmarix



Category: Naruto
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-12
Updated: 2012-07-12
Packaged: 2017-11-09 19:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/457795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vilmarix/pseuds/Vilmarix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever wondered how Naruto got his mania for the colour orange and why he keeps on wearing it even though it's a handicap to his stealth? And where does his good luck comes from? Well here is an explanation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orange Flavoured Lollipop

Maro lazily walked down the lane. Well she had no intention of getting anywhere. She had no destination in mind she just walked. The activity gave her something to do, compared to the boredom at home that drove her insane. She bought two lollipops on the way, orange flavour, unoriginal but it was better than nothing. Popping one into her mouth and stuffing the other into the pocket of her pants, she kept on walking.

Absentmindedly sucking on the hard candy, she came across a group of people. Just for curiosities sake she went to have a look. From the way the crowd gathered around it seemed to be a beginning of a fight. She was not type to play hero. She only looks out for herself alone. That's what the world taught her and she learned that lesson damn well.

It was a child. The poor unfortunate victim was a child. 'Turn away' she thought 'this ain't your fight, so turn away.' But she couldn't turn away. She could just walk away if it was any other bloke, but when she saw the child she knew this was some other kind of matter. It was her moral system verses her survival instincts. Sucking furiously on the candy she had to make a choice and had to do it fast.

'Damn it' she sighed in frustrations as she took one good look at the kid. He was around seven years old. Sunny blond hair, sky blue eyes, tanned skinned and skinny, underfed build. But what made him different were the three pairs of whisker like scars. 'Ahhh, it's the jinchuuriki!' as the light bulb clicked on above her head 'well that explains a lot.' She gave a moment's thought and sighed again, 'Screw it' and she pulled out her citrus sweet from her mouth. Her conscience would kill her if these guys didn't, for walking away.

**xXx**

"Yo guys!" she called out. Grabbing the crowds' attention, 'shit, think fast.' She continued "the Hokage sent me to fetch the brat, so I'd like to take him uninjured and I like to live a long life, you know."

The crowed paused and looked at her and then one asked "why did he send you and not some shinobi?"

'Fuck!' Maro looked at him with annoyance "Does it seem like I know the answer? Just let me take the brat to the Hokage so I can finish the job and be on my own merry way." Popping the hard candy back into her mouth, she grabbed the brat by the arm and snarled at him. She felt terrible as she saw the fear flood into his eyes, but it had to be done if she wanted herself and the kid to get out of that mob alive.

She walked towards the Hokage tower and when they were out of sight she pulled him into a dark alleyway. She crouched down into to his height so she could face him at eye level. He was scared but tried to appear brave. She smiled inwardly at the attempt, 'not bad' she thought and pulled out the other orange lollipop.

"Here kid, the Hokage didn't send me. Just saw that you were in a tight spot so I thought of lending you a hand." She said smiling lightly at him.

The kid looked at her, first in fright then in hope finally began to cry. 'That was unexpected, don't they normally thank you and hug you or some shit like that?' now what she had was a sobbing kid and didn't know what to do about it. She was not the motherly type and definitely not the sisterly type either. Growing up on your own had some drawbacks on human interaction and dealing with sobbing children was one of them. She knew that if she snapped at him he would get scared and cry even more and if he got any louder their hiding spot would be revealed.

"Hey kid, stop crying please? I really don't want to get caught to the mob." She said gently as she could. But he didn't stop but he did seem to quieten down. Then her insensitive curious side came in "Why are you crying anyway, look I'm sorry for scaring you but I had to do it. I'm not a shinobi so I don't know any Jutsus that could have gotten us out of there any other way."

"It's not that" the kid finally spoke between his hiccups. 'What is it then?' she wondered. The kid continued "That's the first time anyone has done something nice to me apart from Jiji."

'Okay! That was weird.' She thought sucking on lollipop turned stick 'apart from the old man no one had done anything nice for him. Wonder what his definition of nice is? Judging by the mob and considering his age I'm guessing if someone who didn't want to kill him was nice.'

Biting the stick she sighed 'why me?' she looked up at the sky 'someone up there really doesn't like me.' She looked down and the kid seemed to have had his cry and quieten down. Maro removed the wrapping from the lollipop and stuffed it into his mouth. He seemed alarmed at first, but slowly relaxed afterwards.

"I really don't like the taste of the orange flavoured lollipop. The only reason I buy it for it's' colour." She said 'why am I telling him this?' she sighed and continued,

"Many don't know, but it's the colour of power. It's the colour of pride, willpower and courage. It's also the colour of friendship, leadership and intellectual mastery" she got a blank look at the word "you know, being smart." He nodded. She then motioned him to follow her. They jogged to the Hokage monument and she say at the edge on the stony bangs of the Yondaime's. She to him motioned to sit next to her.

**xXx**

It was evening and the sun has begun to set, colouring the sky into a bright but pleasant shade of orange. Still biting the stick of the long gone lollipop she took out a pen and the bill from the store she began to write while she continued her speech. "Orange is the colour of confidence, emotional balance, optimism, creativity, enthusiasm, motivation, ambition, thoughtfulness, self-control, consideration and spontaneity."

She turned to face him and she met another blank look that was pasted on the face of the boy. She smiled at him and said "I know you won't understand the words in this speech but promise me you'll remember it" he nodded in response and she placed the bill in his hand on it held all the adjectives she said about the colour.

Now the entire city, trees, grass and the two of them were coloured orange. She stood up and closed her eyes and she continued, "Not many people think about this colour, they always think ill of it" waving her had at the scene. "Sayings it's not soothing, irritating just like what they about you." she bent down and tapped his nose, which he scrunched up playfully. She smiled back at him warmly, something she had never done in her short twenty five years of her life and she continued in a soft voice almost as she was about to tell him a S-class secret. She whispered into his ear "But they don't know that it's the colour of power" she repeated but after a short pause she whispered into the other ear "just like you."

Maro sat down next to him again. The ever present lollipop stick has now been reduced to a crumpled piece of plastic. She didn't know why she had gotten attached to the kid that she went and shared the piece of bullshit about the colour orange that she cherished and had never spoken about it to another soul about, until now. 'Maybe because he is in for a hard life, definitely worse than mine and I guess I saw myself in him' she reasoned.

She looked at the peaceful scene before her drinking it in. This is when she felt a pair of eyes on her. She slowly met them and smiled once more "what's your name kid?" he smiled back and replied "Uzumaki Naruto, and yours?" he asked. She looked at the village and said "Call me Maro. Its means myself which is how I have lived in this world since I can remember. By myself. But I guess after this I think I have to do some digging and find out my real name. What a pain."

The night was approaching and final bits of the orange sun were now disappearing into the horizon. They got up and she began walking towards the Hokage office. When they reached the office doors she stopped and she took one last look at him as if she was measuring him up. After a long pause she paused and pulled out a piece of string which held a stone.

"This is very rare stone that came from a faraway place, it's called an Alexandrite. It's a stone of good omen and had helped me a lot. But now I think it's time to part and help another person through a rough time." She put around Naruto's neck and tucked it in, seeing that he was going to protest she cut him off before he could say anything "I want to give this to you so allow me to. Also keep it safe, Naruto." He nodded.

Maro did something that she didn't think she could do with the feeling she had now. Before gently turning around walking into the darkness of the night, she tenderly kissed his forehead and musically said softly,

"Good night, Naruto"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that day, Naruto never saw that Maro again. But every time he open and read the words in the bill or looked at the colour changing stone he remembered her clearly as if he met her yesterday.

She was small, had a thin wiry build with oval shaped face that held the long black tresses that reached her waist in loose curls, a pair of dark chocolate brown eyes that held only one emotion, affection. And olive skin that looked even more beautiful in the orange sunset. She smelt of spring rain and wind that blew on the top of the Hokage monument and he heard her voice bid him goodnight before he fell asleep.

Since then Naruto wears his bright orange jumpsuit hoping that one day he would meet her once more.


End file.
